Blood Hunter
by Snow Tempest
Summary: (A rework of a fanfiction I wrote on a 10 dare to put a vampire in Lord of the Rings six years ago.) Kali is a regular old community college student who gets dropped down into the magical world of Middle Earth with no warning and a new thirst for blood. Will she survive the call of evil? And will a certain elf find love for her?
1. Born To Darkness

It was nighttime when I next opened my eyes. The forest around me was alive with all kinds of sounds and movement.

I dug my fingernails into the ground and felt the dirt gather under my nails.

I remembered being on the road when some headlights turned on… and a spike of fear running up my spine, and then—just—pain.

I sat up and felt around my body for injuries.

Nothing.

I stood up cautiously and scanned the surrounding woods. They didn't look familiar.

Either the person that hit me wit their car had left me for dead in the woods, or I've been abducted. I hated both these scenarios, but seeing as I was here now…

I walked to the edge of the clearing and, when no one came out of the shadows to stop me, bolted.

I wove between trees and clumsily leapt over roots, trying not to get the fabric of my woolen tights caught on protruding twigs, until I saw firelight beaming from behind a knot of ancient trees.

Loud grunts and rumbles shook the ground as I drew closer warily and began gingerly scaling the nearest tree, adjusting my knee-length dress as necessary and clinging onto its rough bark for support.

As I drew myself up, I could see three large figures gathered around the bonfire. I studied their strange, ragged garb and lumpy heads. They seemed to be bickering, and began shoving each other and growling, over which parts of the sheep carcass on spit they would eat.

I slid back down the trunk, combat boots thudding on the ground. I brushed the debris off the back of my black dress and shook the leaves from my hair.

"What was that?" A guttural voice questioned, followed by a loud crash and the tree that I had just climbed being abruptly pushed aside like a branch.

I cringed and looked behind me reluctantly and saw a giant, misshapen face peering at me haloed by the light of the bonfire behind it.

 _FUCK._

"Another morsel!" The ghastly creature exclaimed, grabbing my leg with a huge hand and sweeping me up into the air in one motion.

I hit my head on the ground on my way up into the air where I was currently dangling, dazed, in the grasp of this bulky, grey, monster.

The creature lumbered back over the fire and held me up for its brethren to see, while I still dangled upside-down in a daze. They communicated amongst themselves while I looked around for a way to escape in a panic.

All I had on me to defend myself were my teeth and the fists I was born with.

 _Well, damn, okay._

So, I figured, _why the hell not?_ And attempted to do an upwards curl to try and bite the hand of the creature that held me.

My abs burned, and the hip that was attached to the leg that was being held popped sickeningly, and not in a healthy sounding way, but I managed to swing myself up and grab the palm of the giant hand, bringing it to my mouth, I bit down.

And then something strange happened.

A bitter taste washed through my mouth and seemed to pour into the broken skin of the palm.

The warm blood filled my mouth as the bitter washed out and a sense of satiation filled my being.

I seemed to be deaf in that moment to the roar of pain from the large creature holding me, but I noticed as soon as it dropped me back down to the ground.

I fell hard on my ass and felt all at once the immense pain that a hip popped out of its socket could create.

The creature that was holding me slowly staggered and finally collapsed to the ground next to me as its brethren looked on in shock.

Then their eyes turned to me.

FUCK.

I rolled to my side and attempted to pop my hip back in, with a little success, then I staggered up to a standing position and put my fists up, if this was going to be a fight, so be it!

"You think we could still eat it if we remove the head?" One of the remaining creatures asked the other.

The image of them removing my head was not particularly pleasant, which spurred my next action; I lunged forward with a limp and grabbed onto the nearest one's leg, biting into it's calf.

It cried out as I held on, and once again, the taste of bitterness went out and sweetness came in, and the hulking thing collapsed much like the other one.

As I let go of the second one's leg, the third and final creature, much like its brethren, did not seem to have the capacity for self-preservation.

It rushed at me with and cry and I dove out of the way as it barreled past me.

I shot a hand out, over extending my arm and popping THAT out of its socket as well, and managed to scratch the creature's ankle. Blood began gushing out from the main artery I had hit, and the creature wailed in pain.

I struggled upwards using my good arm to try and shove my shoulder back in its place.

I could have walked away then, I should have. Logically, I could have gotten away from the creature and made off into the woods, but for some reason, I walked over, knelt, and pressed my mouth to the open wound of the creature, sucking in its blood like it came naturally.

I could feel the body grow cold and the life force of the creature wane, so I let go and wiped the blood from my mouth with the back of my hand.

I stood up and noticed that most of my pain had faded from my hip and shoulder. I tried walking, and my gait was now mostly even.

 _Okay, okay, okay. I'm either in a dream or something very, very wrong happened to my body to be able to do this._

I thought.

 _I have to figure this out, but first, I should find actual humans._

I looked around the clearing and found a cave nearby. Shelter, a place to sleep should I need it if I cannot find anyone in the next 24 hours.

So, I started back into the woods to find any sign I could of civilization.

…

Six hours in and I could feel the barest bit of sunlight begin to filter in through the trees. I don't know if I was because I had gotten used to the dark in the forest, but the light felt like hot needles on my skin.

Then the world got brighter; and I lost my vision.

The first few hours of blindness consisted of me panicking, bumping into trees, tripping into a creek, and begging any and all forces in the universe to have my sight back.

Once I figured out it might not be coming back, and I'd have to live with this blankness forever, I began trying to find my way back to the cave; picking and feeling my way through the forest until I accidentally stumbled into the embers of the creatures' fire and was hit with the smell of burning goat flesh.

I skirted around the ashes and fumbled around the ground to find the entrance to the cave. Once my fingers found the rocky floor I crawled inside into the dark relief to rest and have a good cry.

After a couple hours in the dark, faraway from the cave entrance, I discovered I could see again.

I sighed with relief and began to take in my surroundings: piles and clumps of metal and polished bits of stone lie about the floor of the darkest part of the cave.

Over against the wall leaned a slab of polished bronze, I touched the surface and saw my reflection for the first time since waking up.

My thick, dark brown hair had small twigs and pieces of leaves in it, as was expected. My black dress and grey, woolen tights were torn in some places and slightly muddy, and my combat boots were thoroughly scuffed as they always were.

But, my eyes.

They were a glowing amber, like angry coals in a fire haloed in vibrant red and orange.

Where the fuck did my brown eyes go?!

I squinted closer and peeled back my lids to scrutinize further. I tried rolling my eyes back, to see if my normal eyes were on the flip-side, but it wasn't any use. My eyes are now something out of a children's nightmare.

"Fucking great." I said sarcastically, my lips twisting up into a mocking grin in the mirror.

Then I noticed my canine teeth.

OH, WHAT NOW

Pointed. That's what they were. Shitting—POINTED.

Like more so than Edward Cullen, but distinctly less than 1950s Dracula.

I groaned and rubbed my face in my hands.

"This is a dream, this is a dream, this…" I mumbled to myself and I turned away from the mirror.

I looked back down to the ground at the piles of various metal and noticed something that broke my frustration.

A pair of elegant daggers lay side by side, lightly glowing in the darkness.

Spellbound, I walked over and touched them.

Nothing magical or strange happened, but I did feel like for some reason that I was meant to see them.

I frowned and removed my hands and stood up.

I had better get some sleep so I can either wake up from this dream, or deal with a whole lot of crazy tomorrow.


	2. Green as Leaves

Blood: Chapter 2: Green as Leaves

When I woke, the cave around me was still blessedly dark.

I took stock of my surroundings and scavenged through the treasures to find anything I could potentially use.

I found a metal flask, which I wedged into the waist of my tights to fill with water for later. I took the daggers I had found and some ill-fitting sheaths to put them in for now, I strapped them to my back.

Climbing out of the cave and into the night air, I took a deep breath to bolster my confidence. I began walking in a direction, deciding that eventually, I would have to come out of the forest.

As the night kept wearing on, I found a decent walking stick for the daytime when I couldn't see and some water to drink.

I lightly skimmed the stick just above the ground to sense any obstacles in my way, and so a day passed this way, but the night was easier.

I wondered if I should attempt to hunt a small animal for sustenance, but I realized I didn't feel hungry in the way that I normally would. Even so, that night, I tried to catch a squirrel to no avail, and eventually gave up.

I did find the edge of the woods at noon of the second day. I could tell the moment I stepped out into the clear air that the trees no longer groaned around me and nothing barred my face from the wind. I chose to go back into the woods to sleep until nightfall, and tucked myself into the crook of a nearby tree root and dozed off to the sound of the trees singing.

…

When night came, I roused myself reluctantly from my mossy bed and headed out for the grassy hills beyond the forest I had woken in.

The night air was stingingly cold on my face and bare arms, still, I headed out in search of civilization.

But when I did finally find it, it did not take the form I had expected, with electric lights and humming cars and street vendors; it was small and very close to the ground, lacking any sort of color but the brown and grey of the stone buildings and the green fields surrounding it.

Nevertheless, I strolled down the hill and approached the village, hoping to at least find directions to back home or a phone I could contact my college with to tell the dean that I had not meant to miss this much school. (As a pre-med student, I was sure I had missed a lot of work.)

As I approached, I noticed someone standing by the crude, chest-high wall that surrounded the village, so I walked up to him and waved in greeting.

"Hello! Uh, my name's Kali, and I was wondering if you-"

"A WITCH! A WITCH FROM THE WOODS OF FANGORN!" The man cried and ran back to the village.

I froze in place and thought hard about what the man had said.

 _So, apparently, I'm a witch now. Is it the twigs in my hair? Probably._

Soon after the man disappeared from sight, a gaggle of villagers became coming out of the houses wielding rakes, shovels, pickaxes, and bows and lighting torches to light the dark.

They approached the wall as a group, but as they collectively stopped, a middle-aged woman stepped forward.

"My name is Sigrun of the Dale, what brings you to our land, Wild One?" She spoke clearly, her eyes never wavering for a second. The other villagers skittered nervously and looked visably spooked.

"My name is Kali, and I seem to be lost. Where is the Dale, exactly, you know, like on a world map?" I asked, smiling sheepishly.

The woman blinked, "It is in the veritable center of all things of Middle Earth, even a child would know."

"Oh, woah, woah, wait! You said 'Middle Earth', as in… Elves and Ents and Hobbits and Dwarves."

The woman frowned, "You treat me as though a horse! Tell me not to slow my speech, girl! Yet, aye, there are Dwarves below those very mountains and Elves up north to boot. Begging you pardon, Witch, if you'd not mind bothering them and leaving us to our peace…"

"Oh! Of course, I just wanted some directions!" I waved awkwardly and began stepping farther away from the wall, "I'll just be going now. Have a good night!"

As I walked away my mind spinning with the new information I had just received.

 _If I'm in Middle Earth, the same world of the book my father used to read to me at bedtime, then… how did I get here, and how do I get back to Earth to finish my medical degree?_

I pondered this and wracked my brain for any details I could remember about this place from my father's descriptions, but I mostly came up blank.

I sighed and continued plodding along the grassy, rolling hills until I literally tripped over the body of a man lying on the ground. I apologized in a panic and went to check if he was okay, but very quickly I realized that he wasn't even alive.

The corpse had been lying face-first in the grass with one of his arms noticeably missing, along with half a leg.

I looked for the wayward pieces and, when I couldn't find them, decided that I should probably try to figure out who he was. His clothing suggested miner, but his wounds suggested something's meal.

And if something had gotten to him, it could very likely get to me too.

I continued on in a vague North-Easterly direction and I carefully kept an eye out for anything that could:

1\. Kill me

2\. Send me home

3\. Serve as a nice, dark place to rest for the night-time

Unfortunately, 1. Found me first.

I didn't immediately register its presence until the creature was a few seconds away from me.

It tackled me to the ground and we struggled.

Most of what I remembered from that fight was the snarling and the mucusy drip of saliva hitting my cheek, and then losing it.

I bit straight into this thing's cheek and tore away at its flesh.

It howled and I pushed it off of me and stood up, kicking the creature in the shoulder when it tried to lumber to its feet as well.

I was surprised by the natural violence that came to my aid in this fight or flight situation.

My body kept moving with untrained clumsiness, but vicious energy as I beat down on the attacking creature until it shuddered and dropped into stillness.

I shuddered when I pulled away and looked at my boots, the wet splatter of black blood shone against the fake leather in the moonlight, making what I had just done all the more vivid in my mind.

Turning away, I fled from the scene and towards the mountains, hoping to find a cave to bury myself in for the rest of time.

…

If only my life had been so easy.

The creature had had friends, and they were just as intent on killing me as the first.

They moved in both the daytime and night, setting me at a disadvantage with my daylight-born blindness. So during the light hours, I would find a natural alcove in the hills, as I had not yet reached the foothills of the mountain range, and bury myself in the peat and loam and cover myself until nothing was left visible.

It seemed they had a harder time sniffing me out when I slept under the earth, it was when I rose in the night to run to the mountains that they came back on my trail and pursued.

By the fourth night, when it had almost reached dawn, I was covered in a cocktail of blackened blood and soil and my wounds that I had sustained from nightly battles with the creatures ached and burned. I had no objection to getting my hands or body a little dirty, but this was a tad excessive, it wasn't doing any good for my cuts and bruises.

So my joy when I found a waterfall flowing down some carved steps down the mountainside, was utterly unimaginable.

I ran to the silver falls and cupped my hands to collect the water, splashing some on my face. I hastily took my sore feet out of my shoes and stood in the flow. I shook what I could of the filth off before stepping into the stream. I laughed ecstatically and remembered what It was like to shower on Earth.

Sometimes this place could feel so alien, but at its core, maybe it was all the same.

As I stood in my wet dress, holding my shoes in one hand and laughing giddily, like a fool, I heard a cry of anguish ring from up the incline.

I turned and saw people clinging to the rocks and stepping out of a previously hidden doorway. All seemed distraught and as dirty and wounded as I was.

One turned to look behind them from the hight and caught my eye.

Green eyes, green as leaves.

And then I felt the dawn break.


	3. Second Star

Blood: Chapter 3: Second Star

My vision faded with the sunlight and the prickles of pain stung my exposed skin.

I crouched down and sat on the stone ledge, feeling my way around until I managed to get out from the stream of water.

As I was doing this, I heard the crunch of boots on stone as the people climbed down the steps to where I was sitting,

"What brings you to the Dimrill Dale, lass?" A gruff voice, thick with brogue interrogated. "Have not the goblins been enough! Away with all the tricks that come to slay us at every turn!"

Then, I felt the press of a warm edge against my neck. I guessed it was a dagger someone had kept in their boot of sleeve.

"She is undead, sent from Isengard; we cannot trust her." A voice spoke behind me, blade pressing into my neck a fraction harder.

"Calm your suspicions, Elf. She could be a traveler." Another voice spoke reason, yet the blade on my neck did not waver.

"Kali!" I managed to get my voice to come back, "My name is Kali, and I've been followed."

"A trap!" The low voice proclaimed, the knife at her neck tensed again.

"By what manner of creature were you pursued?" Spoke another, I could feel the air move as he crouched in front of me.

"They are grey and have black blood, sharp teeth, and they move in numbers." I said as clearly and calmly as I could.

"Orcs," The voice in front of me said. "Let her go, Legolas." The pressure on my neck slackened.

"My name is Strider, we are travelers pursued by Orcs, like yourself."

I nodded and went to touch my neck and felt a thin line of wetness that came off onto my hand.

"Where are the Orcs that were following you?"

"We cannot be safe here, can we?!" A new voice piped up in panic.

"In a pack," I answered, "They were from south, following me north-east"

"Isengard," The voice behind me said darkly.

"We must press on if Orcs are closing in,"

"The Hobbits are tired! We must rest for now by the Mirrormere! The spirits of my ansenters will protect us!" The gruff voice insisted.

"Like they protected us from the Balrog, Dwarf?" The voice behind me hissed accusingly.

"Look, I would suggest either getting back into whatever hole you came out of, or getting away from here as fast as you can." I piped up and began trying to stand on my shaky legs, with no sense of how to balance.

"Not an option." The voice in front of me said. "We must reach the woods of Lothlorien by nightfall. We will follow the river. Come," A hand was placed on my shoulder, "Follow us."

"You invite danger into our party, Aragorn!"

 _Aragorn! I know that name!_

I thought excitedly. He had been my father's favorite character in The Lord of the Rings.

"I'll come, seeing as I would be in less danger in your company." I said.

The group, which I counted as five I had heard speak, and probably a few others who had kept silent, helped me and the Hobbits down the steps and began to trek west along the Silverlode river.

Occasionally, when I strayed too close to the river's edge, I'd be gently directed back away from the bank.

I tried to speak with the group as we continued on, but they mostly seemed intent on their current goal, or as I would learn later, numb with grief.

Eventually, we reached the woods of Lothlorien, where the Silverlode became one with the river Nimrodel.

"I wish we would have journeyed here in the autumn, when the leaves turn pure gold against the silver boughs."

Breathed the man that held a knife to my neck earlier. There was something very poetic about everything he spoke, whether it was a death threat, a statement, or a wish.

 _Not that I'd tell the guy that held a knife to my throat that!_

"They say a powerful witch lives here in these woods." Whispered the gruff voice as we continued in farther. "Worry not! I have the eyes of an eagle and the ears of a fox!"

He was abruptly cut off and I wondered why, but continued on walking.

"The dwarf is so loud, we could have shot him in the dark," teased an elegant, new voice.

I hand was put on my shoulder from behind me, "Kali, stop, we are surrounded."

"Oh, wow, okay." I said. "No way!"

Our captors turned out to be the local Elves of Lothlorien, who insisted on escorting us into the forest farther, but whilst we were blindfolded.

As group argued amongst themselves about this fact, the sun sank below the horizon and again, my vision returned to me and I was able to look around at my companions.

A stout dwarf with a dense russet beard, a dirty man in leather armor, a man in studded armor, four Hobbits, and the Elf with vivid green eyes.

 _Alright, let's see who's who, and match voice to face!_

The dwarf had a gruff and blustering voice. The Hobbits mostly remained silent, except for one who chimed in occasionally. The dirty human seemed to be 'Aragorn', and the cleaner one 'Boromir'. The Elf lamented the rule of blindfolds because there were outsiders in the party and I realized that he had been the person to hold a knife to my throat.

A spike of heat rose to my cheeks and I glowered directly at him.

He seemed to notice my stare and looked over his shoulder to me.

"Ah, so she can see again. I knew that she had been able to meet my gaze earlier." He said and the rest of the party turned.

With all of the attention suddenly on me, I sputtered and pointed to the sky, "The sun's gone now."

"I… see." One of the local Elves said in a tone that said, ' _I don't know what this is about, but it is clearly not my problem.'_

Finally, the party was blindfolded and lead to the secret Elvan city that lay deeper within the woods of Lothlorien. When the cloth came down from my eyes, what I saw made me want to cry.

The spires sloped in natural crystalline arches around the silver tree trunks that reached as high as the clouds, it seemed. Magical lights shone and reflected from the boughs, lighting the natural staircases that ascended ever-upward.

Wonder was reflected in all the eyes of my companions, and we gazed about like children as we mounted the stairs and stepped upwards to where we were directed.

Once we had reached the uppermost platform (my ears popped) and we were met with a couple of white-robed Elves who exuded so much starlight that I had to blink back the spots beginning to form in my eyes.

More or less everyone's jaws were on the floor, much like mine, as we saw the regal women look to us with eyes that seemed to know everything. We were informed that she was called Lady Galadriel.

"The enemy knows you have entered here." The other Elf spoke as he stood beside the radiant lady. "All hope you might have had in secrecy is lost."

I twitched nervously, wondering if maybe I, and the group of Orcs following me had something to do with the secret mission being discovered.

"Tell me, where is Gandalf, for I much desire to speak with him. I can no longer see him from afar."

"Gandalf the Grey did not pass the borders of this land," A whisper broke from Galadriel's lips and all eyes turned to her. "He is fallen into shadow," She seemed to be reading the minds of all of us here.

It was Legolas who spoke, "He was taken by both shadow and flame; a Balrog of Morgoth. For we went needlessly into the net of Moria."

The Dwarf looked guilty and the rest of the party seemed to grow mournful again.

"Needless were none of the deeds Gandalf did in life," The Lady said calmly, "We do not know yet his full purpose."

She turned her gaze to the Dwarf, "Do not let the darkness of Khazad-Dum fill your heart, Gimli son of Gloin. For the world has grown full of peril. And in all lands love is now mingled with grief."

She looked to Boromir, who began shuddering and seemed suddenly wretched in her gaze.

"The quest stands upon the edge of a knife, stray but a little, and it will fail. To the ruin of all."

She paused and the room ceased to breathe,

"Yet, hope remains while the company is true, and one more now, has joined your number."

They looked to me suddenly and I panicked internally, "Me?" I pointed to my chest unbelievingly.

The Lady Galadriel nodded, "Your heart will help the rest see hope when there is none, so let not your hearts be troubled. Go now and rest, for you are weary with sorrow and much toil. Tonight you will sleep in peace."

…

From there we were escorted back to the forest floor, where beds had been set up surrounding the base of a great tree.

I sat down on the forest floor and breathed in the clean air and looked to the stars above. The singing of the Elves hung in the forest like a constant hum. The melancholy of their voices brought me back to another time and place, and I realized that I missed being able to speak normally to people in my classes, being able to walk on the sidewalk and take the metro to Arlington to put flowers on my father's grave.

If I was here, and here forever, I might not see anyone I used to know ever again.

The thought rested heavily in my mind as I rested my head in my hands.

"It is for the loss of Gandalf." A voice spoke softly to my left.

I opened my eyes and saw Legolas standing there in what seemed to be silken Elven attire, and looking much cleaner than when was had entered the forest.

"You all care for him very much," I didn't know what to say.

He nodded and we continued on in silence for a time.

"I didn't ask to join the Fellowship,"I broke the silence.

He looked down at me, seemingly surprised.

"And I don't know if any of you have anything against me, but are you alright with having me along?"

"It is the will of the Lady, and I have no reason to object." He said after careful consideration.

"So if the Lady Galadriel had no say in this, would you object?" I asked, my voice soft.

Legolas looked at me in astonishment, "Well, you are one of the dead, are you not?"

"I have no idea, but whatever I am now, I think it thirsts for blood." I sighed, gathering my legs to my chest for comfort.

"If you are one of the dead, and Saruman raised you, he made you to destroy. The dead fought for Sauron in the Great War thousands of years ago."

Somehow, I felt as though his distrust of whatever I was stemmed from more than merely being on opposite sides of a war, but I kept my mouth shut and instead looked back up to the stars and considered their patterns.

One star shone brighter than all the others, remaining constant in the night sky as I watch all the others turn. And next to it also remained a softer light.

 _The second star to the right,_

I thought happily as I began humming my favorite song as a child.

And as I neared the end of the song, I thought I saw a small smile grace the Elf's lips as he slipped off into the forest and left me alone to sleep.


End file.
